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in Tallahassee Coffee House

Should Charley endorse?  

18 members have voted

  1. 1. Should Gov. Crist endorse a Florida City for the Piper site selection?

    • Yes. He needs to pick a City that is BEST suited for this company.
      4
    • No. He's the Governor of the state and should refrain from choosing one city over the other.
      9
    • Crist's opinion doesn't matter in the selection of the site.
      5

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Florida Megalopolis

Florida

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Piper Aircraft Considers Tallahassee

We began this discussion in another thread, but an issue as large as this one deserves its own. So let us continue it here!

In Sunday, April 22nd Edition of the Tallahassee Democrat, there was a nice piece on what is being proposed in terms of incentives and what Tallahassee's strength's and weaknesses are. I was relieved to see the number of strengths we bring into this bid for the new Manufacturer to move here, those including the VLJ training facility that we will soon be hosting, the VLJ Service by Dayjet, and it's hub here. Also, TCC, Lively, and Workforce Plus as training tools for the company, and the vacant land adjacent to the airport with available free-airspace nearby for Piper to test its new planes.

The weaknesses mentioned thus far, in my opinion, are trumped by those strengths. We are afterall in the process of addressing many of those soft spots as we continue to push for the widening of Capital Circle, and look for ways to diversify our economy beyond state government and education.

I think Tallahassee stands a good chance to land this one, and if we do, it will our defining accomplishment of the decade.

Articles:

Here's what Piper Might be Looking for

Piper Deal May Shape Area's Future

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Florida Megalopolis

Florida

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Also notable from that article was:

The issue is public officials' response to the incentives that will have to be developed to be competitive. Dick and Law have confirmed that the financial package will be bigger by far than any the public or their elected representatives have seen. There will be "sticker shock."

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poonther Town

poonther

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As Gov. of the entire State of Florida, I think Crist should remain neutral on this one and just hope one of the two cities in FL land the jobs. However since Vero now wants to play "dirty" w/Crist, where are our reps. (Lawson, Ausley,Richardson etc) calling for Crist to either continue to remain neutral on the two FL cities or push him to endorse Tally.

If you read the Aviation article I linked us to this weekend, I don't think this move is entirely about an incentives package. Of course I nice one wouldn't hurt. :)

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Go Gators Burg

Go Gators

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As Gov. of the entire State of Florida, I think Crist should remain neutral on this one and just hope one of the two cities in FL land the jobs. However since Vero now wants to play "dirty" w/Crist, where are our reps. (Lawson, Ausley,Richardson etc) calling for Crist to either continue to remain neutral on the two FL cities or push him to endorse Tally.

If you read the Aviation article I linked us to this weekend, I don't think this move is entirely about an incentives package. Of course I nice one wouldn't hurt. :)

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Florida Megalopolis

Florida

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Piper's packing for N.M., if my guesswork is correct

Byline: Jim Turner staff writer

Source: Comment

Piper Aircraft is going to build its new jet outside Albuquerque, N.M. That's my conjecture at this moment.

It's based not on the facts, but on my own skewed view of what I read, hear and calculate about the five possible sites for PiperJet.

No inside info was given -- for those making wagers on the side.

Piper executives wisely are not conducting their search for an assembly plant in full view of the news media.

And Vero Beach leaders are equally mum about their efforts to have Piper expand at home rather than in the competing cities of Tallahassee, Oklahoma City, Columbia, S.C., and Albuquerque, N.M.

Tallahassee leaders think they have the upper hand in attracting PiperJet. And they may, at least over Vero Beach.

The capital city will have a training facility for light jet pilots and be a maintenance site for DayJet, the Boca Raton on-demand mini-jet service that is still on standby. Also, as the Tallahassee Democrat pointed out Sunday, Florida State University is home to the Advanced Materials Centres of Excellence, a program to develop light jets.

But the words of Timothy Sieber, vice president and general manager of the Colorado-based Boyd Group, are well worth considering.

"They don't have hurricanes in New Mexico," Sieber said in July when LoPresti announced it would build out West. "New Mexico has enormously favorable tax incentives for business and it's a relatively rural state with a fairly large labor pool."

Still, I want to be positive. So I'll say for Vero Beach's economic future, in my crystal ball, my favorite small independent coffee shop, Big Cup, the type of businesses that the local economy will soon hinge upon, isn't being lured out of town. At least not yet.

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Florida Megalopolis

Florida

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Tallahassee, Vero Beach battle for Piper jet plant

April 20, 2007, 8:30 AM EDT

VERO BEACH -- Economic development officials in Tallahassee and Vero Beach are in a tug-of-war over where Piper Aircraft Inc. will build its new manufacturing plant for the new PiperJet, as the five potential locations for the light jet plant are apparently now public.

But Gov. Charlie Crist is taking some heat from local officials for what may have been an off-the-cuff comment to help bring the plant to Tallahassee.

Crist was quoted Thursday afternoon in the Tallahassee Democrat saying, "I'll call them, but I'm not sure how much good it will do," when asked by Leon County officials at an unrelated event to aid their efforts to sway Piper to Florida's Panhandle.

Reached shortly after the story was posted on the newspaper's Web site, Kathy Torian, deputy press secretary for Crist, said the governor is committed to bringing the plant and its 1,500 jobs to Florida, regardless of location.

The news from Tallahassee infuriated Indian River County's elected and economic development leaders.

"I am not happy about this, I am very disappointed in the governor," said Indian River County Commission Chairman Gary Wheeler. "The Treasure Coast is solid Republican and we helped him get elected, so I don't think it's right that he pit one Florida city against another."

Though an e-mail, Piper spokesman Steve Johnston said, "as we have previously stated, Piper has no agenda to leave Vero Beach."

Earlier this month, Johnston confirmed the company had cut its potential list of sites to build its new jet from 50 to five. Vero Beach and Tallahassee are reportedly competing with Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, N.M. and Columbia, S.C. for the new manufacturing plant.

Richard Aboulafia, vice president of Virginia-based Teal Group, an aerospace and defense consulting firm said despite the bidding war between Tallahassee and Vero Beach, it's likely the PiperJet will be manufactured outside Florida.

"New Mexico is the most aggressive state by far, so they'll probably take it," Aboulafia said. "The comrades in New Mexico have a five-year plan that's very aggressive. That state has very deep pockets when they want the jobs."

Sue Dick, president of the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce and Tallahassee/Leon County Economic Development Council confirmed her agency was working to bring Piper to her region. She referred to the future PiperJet manufacturing plant as "Project Osprey."

"We've been working vigorously on the project," Dick said Thursday. "We are working with local officials at the state and county level."

Helene Caseltine, development director at the Indian River County Chamber of Commerce, was not pleased with Dick's comments. :lol:

"She can be as confident as she wants, but it's not a done deal," Caseltine said. "I am sure that the governor was misquoted."

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Glenn Hamlet

Glenn

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^ TJ, Thanks for the research & posting the comparative matrix of the 5 finalist cities. Anxious to study it all in detail later tonight. Hate to see the war of words coming from Vero Beach & Indian River County officials though.

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Florida Megalopolis

Florida

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No problem. Just dug them up during some spare time today. I'd like to get a story out of New Mexico but I can't find anything.

I think its interesting in one of the articles above how Johnston says, "Piper has no agenda to leave Vero Beach" yet he confirms the final 5 cities. What's with that?

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seminole Whistle-Stop

seminole

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No problem. Just dug them up during some spare time today. I'd like to get a story out of New Mexico but I can't find anything.

I think its interesting in one of the articles above how Johnston says, "Piper has no agenda to leave Vero Beach" yet he confirms the final 5 cities. What's with that?

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stjoe Hamlet

stjoe

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"The Treasure Coast duked it out and squarely defeated Florida's capital last year to lure the Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies. So, can the region go 2-0 in the series by beating Tallahassee to keep Piper Aircraft and its proposed jet-manufacturing plant in Vero Beach?"

I will never get over the loss of Torrey Pines. I still can't believe the casual attitude of our politicians in trying to attract this research facility.

I wonder what lame excuses we will hear from these politicians if they lose this one.

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poonther Town

poonther

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I think Albuquerque is starting to look like the front runner in this one, but you never know. If we lose it to Albuquerque, it will be because of the State of N.M. incentive's package and the lack of an equal one from the State of FL. We in FL are just too busy pandering to AARP (old people's rights over education, roads and jobs) and the likes to really get our state on the ball about business expansions and relocations of course w/the exception of the recent bio-tech firms.

I still think Piper really wants out of Vero b/c of the insurance costs. To keep them in Indian River, I think the county or city would have to help pay their insurance cost and I still don't know if that would be enough. Vero doesn't have much industry and they are in great fear of losing Piper, so I think that is why they slinging punches w/the gloves off.

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